Mark Hopkins, director of professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which is overseeing the sale of the collapsed firm’s assets, said interested parties would be invited to submit formal bids in a week’s time.

“Some of the initial plans for LDV submitted by interested parties have expressed an interest in continuing manufacturing in the UK,” Hopkins told the Guardian. “Other plans do not envisage dedicated manufacturing in the UK.”

Around eight companies had signed confidentiality agreements allowing them to conduct more due diligence on LDV’s finances, including Malaysian vehicle distributor Weststar, which had tried to buy LDV before it went into administration.